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Dwight Howard Wanted Kobe Bryant Amnestied and Mike D’Antoni Fired

August 27th, 2013 at 3:46 AM By Anousheh Emadi

Just when we thought the Dwight Howard saga was over, CSNBayArea's Ric Bucher reports:

"Talks with various people close to the situation make it clear there were two prerequisites for Dwight Howard to remain a Laker: fire Mike D'Antoni and amnesty, or at the very least muzzle, Kobe Bryant."

Howard left the Lakers after only one season to join the Houston Rockets. To sum it up, the 27-year-old wasn't very fond of the way he was being utilized in D'Antoni's offense. Howard clearly wanted Phil Jackson to be the coach of the Lakers after Mike Brown was fired.

Furthermore, the 6-foot-11 center wanted Kobe to pass the torch over to him. The Black Mamba is going to retire two to three years from now anyway, but that wasn't enough for Howard. He wanted to be the center of the franchise on and off the court right away.

Many believed that Howard was planning to leave the Lakers even before free agency began. The big man is convinced that the Rockets are the right fit for him.

Moreover, Hall of Famer and former Rocket, Hakeem Olajuwon, says that Howard is "still very raw." The Dream is hired to mentor Dwight and help him expand his post-moves. This isn't good news for a player that's 27 years-old and in the prime of his career. Usually a player that's been in the league for nine seasons should have reached their potential by now.

Many would understand why Howard wanted D'Antoni fired, but requesting the Lakers to abandon Kobe is going way too far. Bryant is one of the greatest players to ever step on the court, and in his 17-year tenure with the Lakers he has been apart of five championships.

The Lakers made the right decision of choosing Kobe over Howard. The franchise simply wasn't going to abandon Kobe anytime soon.